Finance

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School

University of Toronto Scarborough

Department

Economics for Management Studies

Course

MGEA05H3

Professor

Malcolm Mac Kinnon

Semester

Fall

Description

financing a business - grants and subsidies
There are a wide range of grants and subsidised loans available to UK businesses. Finance is
available to help support business expansion, to provide funding for research and development,
to support training initiatives, to help acquire new premises or refurbish existing buildings or to
support international expansion.
Whilst the provision of actual cash is usually the most important issue, grant aid help can come
in many different forms. For example, certain grant agencies will provide assistance in finding
investors, to help in generating new export leads or introducing experts to accelerate the
development of new product ideas and strategies.
The availability of grants and subsidies often depends on which sector a business is in, where it
is located, how well the application is made and timing (some grants only last for a certain period
or until the funding has been allocated). The key factor in winning grants and subsidies is
whether the funding results in the creation of jobs, especially in regional or local areas that
particularly need them. Accordingly, we have set out below further detail on the main forms of
regional grant aid currently available in the UK
Restrictions on Grants
Match funding
One of the strings attached to a grant is that businesses have to put up some of their own funding
in addition to grant they might receive. It's rare for a grant to cover more than 50% of the cost of
a particular venture or project . In most cases between 15% and 50% will be offered by the grant
provider.
Specific projects
Grant funding will usually relate to a specific project. This could be a relocation, the
development of a new product, the investigation of a new export market. With major grants such
as Enterprise Grants and Regional Selective Assistance the project must become viable within a
certain timeframe. In addition, the project plan will need to be well developed and defined, with
identifiable deliverables. It is likely that a well-constructed business plan will be an important
part of the proposal.
Assisted Areas - the Key Source of UK Grants
Certain areas in the UK qualify for funding because they satisfy criteria for special assistance
drawn up by the European Commission on National Regional aid. The legislation that sets out
the criteria is called Article 87 (3). The main for